Economic Freedom Index Deems Burma Most Improved

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14 January 2014

An annual gauge of global economic freedom has ranked Burma as the most improved among 178 countries assessed by the Heritage Foundation, a free market-oriented US think tank. The Index of Economic Freedom ranked Burma a lowly 162th, tied with Uzbekistan, but the Southeast Asian nation was judged to have improved 7.3 points—to 46.5 out of 100—from last year’s index score. The index measured 10 factors grouped into four broad categories: rule of law, limited government, regulatory efficiency and open markets. The Heritage Foundation cited “positive changes in investment freedom, business freedom, and labor freedom” as reasons for the improved score.